Amazon shared a state-by-state breakdown showing where infections per 1,000 employees stand as compared to its projections and as compared to state-level data. That said, the company is clearly having some issues with hot spots: in both West Virginia and in Minnesota, Amazon's infection rate is higher than both its projections andthe community rate.
That media brought that number to light, however, highlights the larger problem with Amazon's handling of COVID-19: its lack of transparency.
Amazon's release of the data follows an in-depth report NBC News published Wednesday investigating the spread of COVID-19 in Amazon's warehouses.
The first known COVID-19 case in an Amazon facility was identified in March, when an employee at a warehouse in Queens, New York, became infected with the disease.
One employee, Chris Smalls, was fired from his job at the Staten Island warehouse in March shortly after he helped organize a walkout in protest of Amazon's handling of the coronavirus.
Employees still frustrated with the lack of clear information have tried crowdsourcing volunteer data-gathering efforts, NBC said this week, as workers are only receiving vague information from Amazon.
Athena, a broad coalition of racial justice and workers' rights groups, called on both Amazon and public health officials to do better.
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